Smoking - Essay Help

Smoking

Smoking is a lifestyle behaviour associated with many respiratory diseases including terminal illnesses such as cancer (Montazeri et al., 2017). Like any other business activities, tobacco advertising is a critical action in promoting sales and attracting new customers. Although there are concerns over the use of tobacco on human health, more people are engaging in this activity. Studies show that tobacco marketing at the point of sale plays a critical role in influencing youths to engage in this behaviour. Smoking is not only a risk factor for cancer but also a notable cause of premature deaths. According to Gallopel-Morvan et al. (2011), tobacco accounts for over 5.4 million people annually. Although stress and depression are associated with an increased number of new smokers, promotion and advertisement campaigns play a bigger role. For example, Widome et al. (2013) argue that tobacco advertisement communicating discounts available on the product draws attention to the brand and increase the likelihood of new smokers. Although most of the tobacco companies utilise point-of-sale marketing strategy, the packaging is a critical approach used by firms across the United Kingdom and other countries. This report aims to investigate the severity of smoking advertisement and the impact of marketing on smoking behaviour: point-of-sale marking and graphic warning. The report will focus on and critically evaluate the ‘plain-packaging’ campaign from the Cancer Research UK.

Tobacco companies are dedicated to increasing their sales by attracting new smokers irrespective of the health impact of smoking. For a long time, anti-smoking campaigns have failed as more people begin smoking at a young age with little knowledge of the health impact of ignorance. For example, in China, there are over 300 million smokers and 0ne million people die each year from tobacco-related illnesses. Although 68% of the people associate tobacco with lung cancer, only 36% link smoking with heart disease (Jiang and Beaudoin, 2016). The Chinese government is committed to anti-smoking campaigns by running media awareness on the risks of smoking and second-hand smoking or exposure to tobacco. The Chinese government is dedicated to reducing the number of smokers and curbing new cases of smoking through intensive anti-smoking campaigns through social networking sites and mass media.

The UK government acknowledges the danger and health risks associated with tobacco use. In effect, it banned all marketing channels leaving packaging as the only option for business. Tobacco companies have perfected the art of advertisement by embracing alternative advertising and promotion mechanisms such as packaging, point-of-sale promotion, and social marketing. Packaging or branded cigarette boxes as a marketing strategy that marketers use to attract customers (Malik et al., 2014). Maynard et al. (2014) argue that cigarette boxes are iconic to the manufacturers and remain a critical vehicle for advertising and an object of expressing personal identity. The packaging is a branding strategy that uses colours, imagery and logos to increase the appeal and consumption of the product. As illustrated by the video by Cancer Research UK (2012), branding appeals to a range of customers including small children. Target customers identify with the packages through its design or colour and perceive them as attractive and representative of their identity. Consequently, this attracts more first time consumers.